Travel Hacking Airlines

7/23/2019 Travel Hacking Airlines

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/travel-hacking-airlines 1/47

T R AV E L H A C K I N G :

A I R L I N E S

B E N H U G H E S | @ R U B I E T Y | H T T P : / / F L I G H T L E V E R A G E . C O M

http://flightleverage.com/



1 . A I R FA R E P E R U N I T

D I S TA N C E VA R I E S W I D E LY

2 . M I L E S E A R N E D( M O S T LY ) = M I L E S F L O W N

3 . A I R L I N E R U L E S H AV E

L O O P H O L E S



F I N D I N G C H E A P

A I R F A R E











P H L T O P E K : $ 4 4 8 ( 2 . 5 C P M )



L A T O T O K Y O : $ 4 4 5 ( 2 . 7 C P M )



H I D D E N C I T Y T I C K E T I N G



H I D D E N C I T Y T I C K E T I N G



V O L U N TA R Y

D E N I E D

B O A R D I N G

( V D B )



F R E Q U E N T F LY E R M I L E S



M I L E S C A N B E A C C R U E D T O A N D

R E D E E M E D O N

A N Y O T H E R A I R L I N E I N

T H E A L L I A N C E !



A D VA N TA G E S O F U S I N G M I L E S

• Last-Minute Travel (Funerals, Random Trips, Binds)

• Lower Cancelation Fees, Free for Top Elites

• Flexible Routing Rules

• Stopovers & Open Jaws

• Premium Cabins



I N T E R N A T I O N A L

L I E - F L A T

B U S I N E S S C L A S S







I N T E R N A T I O N A LF I R S T C L A S S









D I S A D V A N TA G E S O F U S I N G M I L E S

• Limited Award Availability - Need to be flexible!

• Mile currencies inflate faster than the US dollar

• Airlines can change the rules at any time



AWA R D C H A RT H A C K S

&CO MPAR AT I VE AD VAN TAG E



B R I T I S H A I R W AY S < 6 5 0 M I : 4 , 5 0 0 AV I O S

• SAN-LAX: $$$Avios: 4,500 (~$65)

• JFK-YYZ: $$$

Avios: 4,500 (~$65)

• LHR-CDG: $$$

Avios: 4,500 (~$65) + ~$20 Taxes

• Lots of places < 650 mi from AA hubs ORD, DFW, MIA

• US Airways now in OneWorld! Add PHL, PHX, CLT



A A O F F - P E A K T O E U R O P E : 2 0 K



P H L - D U B - P H L :

1 0 0 K U S A I R W AY S M I L E S I N B U S I N E S S



M E X - F R A - Z R H ,

Z R H - B K K - C G K ,

C G K - T P E - L A X

L A X - P H X - M E X

L U F T H A N S A 7 4 7 - 8 U P P E R D E C K

S W I S S A 3 4 0 B U S I N E S S

T H A I 7 7 7 B U S I N E S S

E V A 7 7 7 B U S I N E S S



S F O - N R T - S F O :

2 2 0 K U N I T E D M I L E S I N A N A F I R S T



Y V R - M U C - F R A ,

F R A - B K K - H K G ,

B K K - H N D ,

N R T - I C N - J F K

L U F T H A N S A A 3 3 0 F I R S T

T H A I A 3 8 0 F I R S T

T H A I 7 4 7 F I R S T ( T W I C E )

A S I A N A 7 4 7 F I R S T

A S I A N A 7 7 7 P R I V AT E S U I T E



M I L E A G E R U N N I N G

“ I T ’ S A B O U T T H E J O U R N E Y,

N O T T H E D E S T I N AT I O N ”

• Flights for sole purpose of earning miles & elite status

• Destination & dates irrelevant

• Hoping around airports, going nowhere



B E N E F I T S G I V E N O N

M I L E S F L O W N , N O TP R I C E PA I D



E L I T E S TAT U S



A A

E X E C U T I V E

P L A T I N U M

• 100% Bonus on

Redeemable Miles

• Priority Everything

• International First Class

Lounges

• 8 Systemwide Business

Class Upgrade

Certificates



M I N ( C P M )



I TA M AT R I X



S H A N G H A I F O R D I N N E R :

L A X - B N A - O R D - P V G - O R D - M I A - L A X ( 1 9 , 8 5 9 M I )

F O R $ 7 4 1 . 1 0 ( 3 . 7 3 C P M )



P H I L A D E L P H I A F O R L U N C H ( C H E E S E S T E A K ) :

S A N - E W R - Z F V - E W R - S A N ( 5 , 3 5 0 M I )

F O R $ 1 4 0 . 7 0 ( 2 . 6 3 C P M )



“ N E T C O S T ” A P P R O A C H T O A I R FA R E

$160 Transcontinental (~7,000 mi with indirect routing)

100% Mile Bonus with United 1K: 14,000 mi earned

14,000mi X ($0.017 / mi) = $238 in Mile Value

Net Cost = Paid ($160) - Mile Value ($238)

Net Cost = Negative $78



S A M E - D AY C H A N G E S

• Route further out of the way for more miles

• Monitor F cabin loads for upgrade optimization

• Increase voluntary denied boarding changes

• Deliberate book days off with cheaper fares, intend tochange to day before/after



F L AT- O U T B U Y I N G M I L E S

• US Airways Buy Miles Promo (1.9 cents)

• US Airways Share Miles Promo (1.1 cents)

• American Buy Miles Promos

• Buy Transferrable Currencies & Transfer

(Starwood Buy Miles Promos)

• United Mileage Multiplier when Flying



R O U N D - T H E - W O R L D

$ 9 9 0 I N L I E - F L AT B U S I N E S S C L A S S !



L O U N G E A C C E S S H A C K S



A C C E S S

H O W ?

• Membership ($$$)

• International flights in

premium cabins

• International flights with

elite status

• “Club” or “Executive” CCs(high annual fee)

• Amex Platinum (American,

Delta, US Airways)



A M E X P L AT

R E F U N D A B L E T I C K E T S



B U T… T H E T I M E S A R E C H A N G I N G

• Award Chart Devaluations

• Minimum Spend Requirements for Elite Status

• Move to Fully Revenue-Based Mile Earning (Delta)

• American Airlines / US Airways Merger Uncertainty



T H A N K S !

B E N H U G H E S | @ R U B I E T Y

H T T P : / / T R A V E L . B E N H U G H E S . N A M E | H T T P : / / F L I G H T L E V E R A G E . C O M

• FlyerTalk, MilePoint

• One Mile at a Time

• View from the Wing

• The Points Guy

• MileValue

• HackMyTrip.com

http://hackmytrip.com/

http://flightleverage.com/

Documents

Travel Hacking Airlines